American Bitcoin Trader On the Run & Facing Death Penalty: Update

Chad, a Bitcoin trader, and his girlfriend are on the run from Thailand authorities, facing the death penalty. Chad already faced tragedy in his life and seems to have found joy again, until this...

Chad Elwartowski, an American Bitcoin trader, and his girlfriend Thai native Nadia Supranee Thepdet, are being sought by Thailand government officials after going into hiding when someone warned them they were deep legal trouble. They were seasteading 15 miles off the coast and Thailand claims their actions were "deteriorating Thailand's independence." Now the two are on the run and could face the death penalty if caught.

One of Chad's last posts on Facebook (he either deleted his very last one or made it private) reads:

I'm not sure if he was here on Steemit. He was on MeWe but never actually posted anything publicly there, seeming to still use Facebook the most.

He and his girlfriend had made quite a lot of money because he was an early adopter of Bitcoin, and he was looking forward to enjoying his retirement.

Before meeting Nadia, Chad's first wife had passed away and his Facebook posts show a man who had struggled with that grief. It looks like he found freedom and joy again, but now he's on the run. :(

No one knows where he is today. His family has just recently said that they don't know where he is either, but they have heard enough from him to know that he is safe - for now.

I wrote an in-depth story about Chad for Heavy here if you'd like to check it out.